Photos: Pages from a real-life Sherlock Holmes' diary

Between 1909 and 1912, Detective Inspector Robert Mather of the Manchester Police kept scrupulous notes on 65 characters from the city’s criminal underworld, including Samuel Searson, a.k.a. Samuel Jackson, who most recently served six months for “stealing silver shields” and three elaborately coiffed individuals labelled as “brothel thieves.”

Their offences ranged from pickpocketing and “housebreaking” (burglary) to stealing pigeons, trousers and a “dressing case;” identifying marks included scars and, in one case, “three dots right forearm.”